The Best Idea Yet

Roscoe Rodda was in the fight of his life. His candy factory was right down the road from Milton Hershey’s—yes, THAT Hershey’s—and he needed to set himself apart. So Roscoe embraced a single holiday to get the competitive confectionery edge: Easter. Chocolate eggs, jellybeans… and a secret treat painstakingly sculpted behind closed doors: a marshmallow chick with inquisitive waxy black eyes. These...

Before 2007, mobile phones had tiny keyboards, crappy screens with internet so slow - you could finish a super burrito while waiting for your MySpace profile to load. Then Apple wowed the world with the iPhone: a digital Swiss Army knife that replaced cameras, maps, music players, AND created an entire new app economy. But the wildest part? Steve Jobs didn’t even want to build it…at first. On...

Margaret Rudkin’s family was in crisis. The Great Depression cleaned out their finances, her husband was bedridden after an accident, and her son was suffering from crippling allergies. Things were looking grim… until Margaret invented a revolutionary wheat bread, and built a baked-goods empire named for the tree in her front yard: Pepperidge Farm. A visionary businesswoman, Margaret’s talents ext...

In 1981, a scrappy ex-radio executive named John Lack had a wild vision: “What if there was a 24-hour television channel devoted entirely to music videos?” Back then, music videos weren’t really a thing, just a goofy way for record labels to promote new albums (Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody? Basically a hype video). But Lack saw them as the perfect opportunity to capture a completely untapped demograp...

If you currently own a 12-pack of bath tissue, a 150-count bag of laundry pods, and/or a 48-oz jar of cashews, chances are they all have the same label: Kirkland Signature. Costco debuted this private-label brand—aka ‘store brand’—in 1995 and since then, it’s become a sales-driving juggernaut. Kirkland products now account for a quarter of Costco’s total sales, from coffee and batteries to their f...

Taco Bell was struggling and needed an idea so bold… so over-the-top… so WEIRD… that it would capture America’s taste buds and Instagram feeds. So when it unveiled the Doritos Locos Tacos (or ""DLT"") in 2012, jaws dropped…then immediately started chomping. The hard-shell taco coated with cheesy Dorito dusting became the biggest fast food hit of the decade, selling over a billion tacos. Even tasti...

Once upon a time, American kids had a problem—OK, two. They were watching way, WAY too much TV and they were falling way, way behind in school. But then a trailblazing producer and her psychologist friend asked a bold question: What if we used the first problem to solve the second? The result: Sesame Street, home of Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert & Ernie, and a social-media superstar named Elm...

Designed to keep climbers snug on El Capitan, the Patagonia fleece became the unofficial uniform of venture capitalists and finance bros (earning the nickname Patagucci). But thrill-seeking Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard never aimed for a high-end market. In fact, he built a $3 billion brand while trying not to be a businessman. Yvon's a self-described existential dirtbag (baby) whose idea of a...

Phish Food: it’s more Vermont than Bernie Sanders snowboarding down a mountain of maple sugar. This philanthropic ice cream came out of an epic ‘90s partnership between two Burlington legends: the jam band Phish, and Ben & Jerry’s. (You can thank the band for the caramel ribbon) But the Phish Food story really begins with Ben & Jerry themselves: two college dropouts and BFFs who started th...

Monopoly: the game that taught you to ruthlessly bankrupt your friends and family, one hotel at a time. With 250 million copies sold worldwide, ⅔ of American homes have a copy. But you probably don't know its shocking origin story: Monopoly rewards runaway greed — but was originally created by a feminist to teach about the evils of economic inequality. It was a financial flop…but an undergrou...

What’s keeping us up at night (besides our own thoughts)? An 8.4-oz blue-and-silver can of caffeine, taurine, sugar, and flavoring that’s part LaCroix, part Robitussin. Red Bull is not only America’s best-selling energy drink, it was its first: before the Bull, ‘energy drink’ in Illinois meant two Diet Cokes and a coffee chaser. But Red Bull’s reach is global, and its story actually begins halfway...

This one guitar didn’t just change music — it permanently cranked it up to 11. From Buddy Holly’s crisp riffs to Jimi Hendrix’s flaming solos (literally, he lit one on fire), the Fender Stratocaster is the most iconic electric guitar of all time. It inspired the Beatles AND Eric Clapton, became the axe of choice for everything from punk rock to reggae, and cemented itself as the foundation of Amer...

French fries and pesto? Mango and sticky rice? Ice cream and olive oil?! Real ones know when it comes to surprisingly perfect food combos, nothing tops chocolate and peanut butter (or is it peanut butter and chocolate?) - best showcased by America’s top selling candy… Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. That distinct blend of milk chocolate and salty peanut butter was the result of a (happy) factory accid...

Pop quiz: What’s the longest-running video game in history? It’s not Pac-Man or Donkey Kong or even Pong… it’s The Oregon Trail. A true pioneer (and we don’t just mean the ones in the covered wagons), the Oregon Trail has sold more than 65 million copies (that’s more than the Beatles’ White Album) and it spawned an “edu-tainment” industry now worth over $6B. But this wholesome game was create...

When you hear the name Swatch, you may picture an affordable wristwatch with neon bands, a pop-art face, and an invite to the Middle School dance. But this humble plastic timepiece played a huge role in geopolitics: the Swatch saved the entire Swiss watch industry from something called the “Quartz Crisis.” Rolex is only thriving today as a luxury product because Swatch pulled off a James Bond-leve...

Click… That satisfying sound of Lego bricks has brought joy to millions of kids - and adults (kidults?) for more than 70 years. But did you know it all started in a Danish carpenter's workshop during WWII? And that boxes of Lego were used to smuggle grenades to resistance fighters? Today, family-owned Lego is the biggest toy company on earth, but this plastic empire almost came tumbling down more...

PEZ - the fruity, sugary tablets dispensed from your favorite cartoon character’s neck conjure up sweet childhood memories of swapping and collecting dispensers. (I’ll trade you my red Power Ranger for your Pikachu) But when these Austrian-born sweets hit the candy aisle almost 100 years ago, they had a seriously adult mission: Help people quit smoking. Yep, PEZ was essentially Juul before Juul, m...

It’s simply the most popular sneaker in history. With $7B in annual sales today, Nike and Michael Jordan’s shoe deal changed sports, fashion and marketing forever - But it never would’ve happened without skilled negotiating by MJ’s Mom. Originally banned by the NBA, Air Jordans have sold hundreds of millions of pairs, made Michael Jordan worth almost $2 billion (that’s why he always has a cigar),...

It’s the OG of instant photography — It paved the way for the iPhone, inspired Instagram, and fills every photo album on your parents’ bookshelf. Polaroid became a fave of world-class artists like Ansel Adams and Andy Warhol, but did you know its inventor, Edwin Land, actually got the original idea from his 3-year-old daughter? Find out how Polaroid and rival, Kodak, went from friends to fren...

Break out the bubbly, turn on the jets, and hop into our Hot Tub Time Machine: we’re going back to the origins of the Jacuzzi. The world’s most iconic whirlpool has become a symbol of status and luxury—think Scarface’s bathtub. But its roots are humble, starting with a family of seven Italian immigrant brothers. Over three generations, they pivoted one technology from airplanes to agriculture to t...

What do Old West gold miners, biker gangs and Marilyn Monroe all have in common? The same pair of jeans…Invented by a down-on-his-luck immigrant tailor in the 1870s, this classic riveted pant launched a global denim market worth over $70B. How? By teaming up with Levi Strauss & Co., a Gold Rush-era startup that became the most popular clothing brand in America. (Fact: Levi’s won a popularity c...

Chances are you’ve got a bottle of Sriracha chilling in your fridge right now, but have no idea who invented it — or the spicy story of how he made it happen. Entrepreneur David Tran fled Vietnam in the late 70s, smuggling gold bars into the US to start his venture - selling hot sauce out of a van. Little did he know his thick, spicy red jalapeño concoction would make him the world’s first hot sau...

The Jeep isn’t just a car, it’s a cult: inspiring clubs, meetups, even its own “Jeep Wave.” From cameos in M*A*S*H to Mean Girls, the Jeep’s been ranked the most patriotic brand in America for 20-straight years (sorry, Coke). But did you know that Jeep actually started as a group project? Learn how three fiercely competitive rivals came together for some emergency teamwork to help Allied Forces wi...

The Birkenstock Arizona has adorned famous feet from John Lennon’s to Steve Jobs’ to Barbie’s—but the brand itself is older than America, and has gone through more eras than Taylor Swift (plus, won over just as many haters). From a cobbler’s shop in 18th-century Germany to KendaIl Jenner’s Insta feed, this 250-year old shoe brand has found staying power by embracing both 5-star…and 1-star reviews....

Mario isn’t just the most beloved plumber in history - he’s the most successful video game character of all time. With over 800 million games sold, Mario and his brother Luigi have “wahoo-ed” their way into multiple spinoffs, (Mario Kart sesh anyone?) Hollywood blockbusters… even their own amusement park. But the  Super Mario Bros.  origin story   will surprise you like a rogue turt...